64 pages • 2 hours read
Bruno BettelheimA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Life Divined from the Inside
Bettelheim argues that in fairy tales, “internal processes are externalized and comprehensible” (25). He recalls a tradition in Hindu medicine where a patient is given a fairy tale to meditate on when faced with a problem. While his external problems will be different from the fairy tale protagonist’s, his internal conflict will be similar. Importantly, the fairy tale does not dictate the solution; rather, the meditator uses the tale as a guide to find his own solution and so is active in the model of his own healing.
Bettelheim continues to emphasize the role of fairy tales in “achieving a more mature consciousness to civilize the chaotic pressures of their unconscious” (24). These stories have evolved over generations to address universal concerns and provide the reassuring message that a good life is possible as long as we do not evade the struggles that push our current, limited identity toward a more mature and satisfying one. Bettelheim emphasizes that reading the story aloud to a child is the most helpful method of disseminating it as the parent thus affirms the child’s process of using fairy tales as a guide to overcoming obstacles.
“The Fisherman and the Jinny”: Fairy Tale Compared to Fable
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